Rebecca Parsons, CTO of Thoughtworks

Computer science might still be a boys club, but women like Rebecca Parsons are kicking in the back door. Companies such as Siemens, Barclays, and Cisco Systems rely on global consultancy Thoughtworks to build, fix, and improve their computer
networks. And as CTO of the
multi-million dollar company, Parsons is one of the world's most sought-after sources of innovation. —Damian Joseph